I am writing to express my support for L.D. 820, a bill that would ensure that Mainers can use their health insurance for abortion care.

On March 27, I traveled to the State House in Augusta to listen to and support both those who shared testimonies in support of the bill and the folks who tirelessly dedicated their lives sustaining access to abortion in Maine. During the public testimonies, people shared heartfelt personal stories or beliefs to support why insurance in Maine should be required to cover abortion.

At times, it feels like this increasingly partisan disagreement is so polarized there is no space to find common ground. However, the thing that unites people on both sides of the aisle is that both seek access to and need abortions. The biology of pregnancy does not know political or moral lines, and people of all belief systems, religions, races, classes and backgrounds have abortions.

At the L.D. 820 hearing, a common theme in the testimonies in opposition to L.D. 820 was that abortion was a violation of religious freedom. Yet, people of all religious backgrounds access abortion as a critical part of their basic health care needs. This is supported by a report from the Guttmacher Institute that found that 24 percent of the women who got abortions in the U.S. in 2014 identified as Catholic, 17 percent as mainline Protestant, 13 percent as evangelical Protestant and 8 percent as another religion.

Abortion is health care that people of all belief systems need access to. Legislators, please vote for this bill. Supporters, ask your lawmaker to support this bill.

Amanda Gavin

South Portland

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